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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;color:black"><img width="229" height="74" id="_x0000_i1025" src="cid:image001.png@01D0F05A.D2F24500"></span></b><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">For Immediate Release<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">September 16, 2015</span></b><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">CONTACT: Charlie Burr, (971) 673-0788 office<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;color:black">Avakian: Oregon’s minimum wage will not increase in 2016</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-autospace:none">
<i><span style="color:black">It’s time to raise wages and strengthen economy, says Avakian</span></i><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black"> </span></b><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">PORTLAND–</span></b><span style="color:black">Despite rising housing, child care and other household costs, Oregon’s minimum wage will remain $9.25 in 2016, Commissioner Brad Avakian announced today.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Each year, Commissioner Avakian calculates the minimum wage by measuring the increase to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a federal figure published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics to track prices
for a fixed “market basket” of urban goods. The figure helps track inflation across the country, but does not fully capture local cost increases, such as skyrocketing rents in the Portland or Eugene metro areas.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">About 100,000 workers – six percent of the state’s workforce – currently earn the minimum wage. For full-time workers, Oregon’s wage floor translates to less than $20,000 a year.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">“It’s time to take action on wages,” said Labor Commissioner Avakian. “The reality is that Oregon’s wage floor is not keeping pace with the rising cost of rent, child care and other expenses. We should raise our
state’s minimum wage so that people working full-time can afford to provide for their families.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">A common misconception about employees earning a minimum wage is that they are mostly teenagers. However, according to the Economic Policy Institute, roughly 80-percent of all minimum wage workers living in states
with an indexed minimum wage are at least 20 years old. Women are also disproportionally affected: According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 62 percent of all minimum wage earners nationwide are women.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“A strong wage floor is an important foundation for family economic security,” said Avakian. “By passing a higher minimum wage, Oregon can help families struggling to make ends meet while boosting the purchasing power of hundreds of thousands
of Oregonians around the state.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">As Labor Commissioner, Avakian both sets the state’s minimum wage and oversees its enforcement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">In 2013, Commissioner Avakian testified before the U.S. Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee in support of Sen. Tom Harken’s efforts to boost the federal minimum wage. In 2014, Avakian
was the first statewide official to call for a minimum wage increase. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i><span style="color:black">###</span></i><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Charlie Burr<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Communications Director<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">800 NE Oregon Street, Suite 1045<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Portland, Oregon 97232<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tel: 971-673-0788<o:p></o:p></p>
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